The Sheffield Academicals came home from Wickersley with maximum points but had their resolve and character tested by the Masons Arms in a tricky game; having to come from 2 goals down at half time to post the victory.
The Accies started slowly and although they had most of the possession in the first ten minutes they didn’t really threaten and gradually the Masons came into it, getting to the ball first and showing more desire generally. The pitch was hard and bobbly which didn’t suit the Accies who were trying to get it down and play, the home team certainly using it to their advantage by knocking it forward early. Swifty was put through by Jamie on 15 minutes but his shot was well saved by the home keeper; the only chance of any note so far. The Academicals suffered a blow on 20 minutes as Jamie had to come off injured, replaced by Dan Kav on the right with Daz pushing up front.
The game still took a while to get going and it was the Masons that struck first as a free kick came into the Accies box and Big Si with his face to goal took a touch before attempting to clear but had it nicked off his boot as he was kicking it; going through the man first with the ref right on top of it to award the penalty. The Masons forward took a very nervy penalty which Alex (covering in goal for the absent Godwin lashing it up!) nearly got a foot to. Within 5 minutes the Masons were two up as their useful number six was given too much time on the edge of the box and struck a sweet drive into the far bottom corner.
This stirred the Accies into life although they were still making hard work of it. They seemed reluctant to get forward with both Dan and Bri sitting deeper than usual and on a couple of occasions with decent balls into the box the forwards were not there to cause any problems. This began to change though as a succession of corners created a couple of good chances. Firstly Bri met Dan’s driven corner sweetly with his head and it was in all the way but struck the defender on the post in the face, rebounding back onto Brian’s head and agonisingly just over the top. Big Si also met another corner with a good header which was scooped away on the line by the covering defender. The Accies were not really getting the rub and this summed up the half as it drew to a close.
Half time - Masons 2 – 0 Academicals
A combination of Jamie’s team talk and Swifty’s Braveheart speech saw a different Accies side come out in the second half. Noticeably Hodgy was fired up and led the way with some hard tackles and direct running that gave a renewed confidence that flowed through the team. The away side were getting forward time and time again with Dan Kav peppering the box with crosses and corners and Brian on the other side menacing their full back. Bri put in a good ball that eluded everyone but found Dan running in at the back post, his goalward bound half volley hitting the blocking defenders back leg and going out for the corner; which Reedy met but it went straight at the keeper. Another corner followed which caused a scramble and as it was only half cleared Daz reacted quickest and hooked a shot into the top corner leaving the keeper standing and reducing the deficit.
Big Si and Chalky were dominating midfield now and spreading the ball out wide whenever possible and using Stan and Hodgy who were both getting forward more to apply relentless pressure to the Masons goal. Ryan and Reedy were mopping everything up and marshalling the useful looking number 6 every time. Dan Kav hit another deep cross from wide right which looked like it was drifting in but skinned the back post; the equalising goal surely wasn’t long coming. Daz and Dan swapped sides and after a corner from the left was cleared it came back to Dan whose cross deflected out to the edge of the box where Brian was lurking; as the ball dropped he swivelled and struck a perfect half volley into the top corner from outside the box to again leave the keeper no chance – a sweet strike!
The Masons were visibly deflated but as the Accies pushed for a winner there were gaps appearing at the back. Both Reedy and Ryan in quick succession made timely interceptions and calmly under pressure retained the ball and contributed to the attacks with good passes out to their full backs. With 15 minutes to go the Accies got the third goal. Reedy played a ball into Big Si who found Chalky who clipped a terrific pass out wide to Dan; his cross was headed back across goal by Swifty straight into the path of Chalky who had continued his run. His header looped over the keeper and rebounded back off the bar for Chalky again to head into the empty net; a deserved goal.
The Accies survived a brief scare when a ball over the top was headed back to Alex as he came flying out, you could hear the collective intakes of breath from the players and the line but Alex showed good hands and gathered it calmly. Nothing to worry about! Moments later it looked like their number 6 was through but a superb covering tackle from Reedy in the box snuffed out the danger. The Accies nearly put it beyond doubt when Trev, who had come on for Brian, put Swifty through and his shot came back off the bar but the game was seen out and the Academicals went home with maximum points after a characterful and resilient display.
Final Score Masons 2 – 3 Academicals
